Opening of Carlisle Airport postponed – might be spring 2019?

Due to launch in June, it was postponed until September because of issues with not enough air traffic controllers. It has been postponed again until spring 2019, as those problems have not been resolved and the buildings were not quite ready.

Three bidders for 85% stake in Stobart Air

4 April 2016 (News & Star, Cumbria)

Three bidders have emerged to buy a controlling interest in Stobart Air, the airline behind plans for scheduled flights from Carlisle Airport. The News & Star reported in December that Stobart Group and the investment house Invesco were looking to sell their 85 per cent stake in the airline, which operates Aer Lingus Regional services.

Press reports in Ireland suggest that the Dublin-based Aviation Finance Company has tabled a bid, as has Stobart Air’s management led by its chief executive Sean Brogan. And it is understood that Stobart Group is considering merging Stobart Air with the Irish carrier CityJet in a move that could create one of Europe’s largest regional airlines. It is not clear what, if any, impact a change of ownership at Stobart Air would have on plans for flights from Carlisle.

The Government confirmed in November that proposed routes from Carlisle to London Southend, Belfast and Dublin are among five to share a £7m start-up subsidy for new services from regional airports. Stobart Group owns Carlisle and Southend airports, giving a strong incentive for a Stobart-owned airline to operate services between them. That would no longer be the case if the company sold its stake.

At present, Stobart Group says, “developments at Carlisle airport are continuing as before”. Chief executive Andrew Tinkler has said that scheduled flights from Carlisle could start this year.

Work to start soon on Carlisle airport

25 November 2014

Work is finally starting within the next 2 weeks, on the redevelopment of Carlisle Airport, bringing an end to decades of delays and false starts. Preparations are already underway, with the site’s access road being constructed and portable buildings put in place. Stobart Group, which owns the airport near Crosby-on-Eden, has declined to comment on the status of the project but it is understood work is due to start in earnest from the beginning of next month. Carlisle City Council confirmed planning consent for a redevelopment in August. Some people locally hope the airport could develop business links to London. Stobart said: “In particular, we are considering a London service and a Dublin route connecting to transatlantic destinations.” Stobart plans to start air freight services from Carlisle. The decision to grant planning permission in August was the fourth time the council granted consent.

Work on Carlisle airport revamp for freight centre could start in 6 weeks, if there is no legal challenge

August 20, 2014

Work on the redevelopment of Carlisle Airport could begin in 6 weeks, unless there is another legal challenge to the planning approval granted by Carlisle City Council councillors. Their development control committee has given the scheme – which includes the creation of a huge freight distribution depot – full approval. It was the 4th time that the matter has gone to committee for decision. Work can start, if there is no application by opponents of the scheme for a judicial review of the planning approval. That application would have to be lodged within 6 weeks. The planning law has recently changed, so the council did not need to consider whether the airport would be commercially viable, nor whether Stobart would actually keep the airport open – rather than just use the land for freight storage and transfer. One key opponent, Peter Elliott, has stressed that the runway should be realigned, to take it away from Irthington village, due to safety. Supporters of the scheme hope it will create jobs, but that is uncertain. Stobart shareholders had previously been told that the huge freight distribution centre would reduce rather than create jobs. Stobart hope 40,000 people per year would fly from Carlisle to Southend Airport, plus 20,000 per year to Dublin.

Carlisle council gives go-ahead to city airport overhaul – largely to be a freight centre

August 19, 2014

Plans for the £20 million overhaul of Carlisle Airport have been given the go ahead – again. A special meeting of Carlisle City Council took place on 18th August, with councillors asked to approved Stobart Group’s proposals for a massive freight distribution centre and revamped runway. One councillor expressed concerns over potential traffic congestion but no councillor voted against the motion to approve officers’ recommendations. The Stobart Group chief executive Andrew Tinkler said that work could begin within “a couple of months” – provided there are no legal challenges. The decision came despite the High Court quashing a previous planning permission decision, as new case law has since emerged which means that the need to take into account the viability of the airport is no longer relevant. However, opponents of the plans are questioning the legality of the council decision. Local people are asking for this decision to becalled in. This freight depot proposal is deeply opposedby a large proportion of the local community. There is concern that the proposal was permitted because Tinkler showed a film, of Stobart employees begging for consent to be granted, at the planning meeting.

Stobart has pledged a subsidy of £250,000 per year to Aer Arran, to try to make Carlisle airport viable

June 25, 2014

Transport giant Stobart has ploughed an extra £250,000 a year into its plans to redevelop Carlisle airport. They have lodged new documents with the city council, pledging the money to be paid as a subsidy to airline operators – to ensure that the airport is financially sound. Aer Arann – now known as Stobart Air, which Stobart has a 45% stake in – has confirmed it is interested in running a service (to Dublin and Southend). This comes after the High Court quashed planning permission granted by the city council in March, due to a lack of detail about the venture’s commercial viability, which the cash injection aims to address. Stobart intends to “to grow Stobart Air significantly, following the completion of development at London Southend Airport” [LSA]. “Once planning approval is obtained for the developments at Carlisle Lake District Airport, Stobart Air would invest in new airport infrastructure and facilities…” Stobart plans to plough £20.36m into a new distribution centre at Carlisle airport. Carlisle council believed in 2011 there was no evidence that passenger flights predicted by Stobart Group would ever materialise.

Local farmer, Gordon Brown, who farms at Irthington close to Carlisle airport, has won another round in the long battle against the expansion of Carlisle Airport and its cargo distribution centre. The High Court judge, Mr Justice Collins, ruled that planners had failed to properly consider the viability of the plans. He allowed the challenge by Thomas Brown, and quashed the latest planning permission for a new freight storage and distribution facility at the airport. The judge said that Brown’s claim succeeded, though only on one ground, put forward by him – which was the failure by the council planners to consider the viability of the expansion plans properly. The decision was said to be borderline, and “by no means straight forward,” had taken years, and generated an “excessive” amount of paperwork. The latest round of the legal battle comes more than 3 years after Brown won a ruling from London’s Court of Appeal quashing the council’s previous grant of planning permission. Whether there will be an appeal against today’s ruling is not yet known.

HIGH COURT VERDICT THROWS CARLISLE AIRPORT PLANS INTO DISARRAY

21 March 2014 (In Cumbria)

Stobart Group is to submit new plans for the development of Carlisle Airport despite a legal set back today. The company has expressed frustration and disappointment at the High Court’s decision to back a challenge from a farmer but says it is determined to provide passenger flights from the airport. Mr Justice Collins, one of the country’s most experienced planning judges, allowed the challenge by Gordon Brown, from Irthington and quashed the latest planning permission for a new freight storage and distribution facility at the airport. The judge said that Mr Brown’s claim succeeded, though only on one ground put forward by him. That was failure by the planners to properly consider the viability of the expansion plans. In backing Mr Brown, the judge said that the decision allowing planning consent could only be justified if the planning committee was properly entitled to conclude that there was a reasonable prospect of achieving commercial use of the airport. But, he added, a key issue involving a subsidy was “not properly dealt with” by the planning committee. Details at

CARLISLE AIRPORT DECISION LIKELY IN NEXT THREE WEEKS

22 February 2014

A farmer opposed to expansion plans for Carlisle Airport must wait to hear the outcome of his latest legal battle with the local council. Related: Carlisle airport expansion battle back in court Mr Justice Collins, one of the country’s most experienced planning judges, has reserved his decision in the case in which Thomas Brown, from Irthington is hoping he will quash the latest planning permission for a new freight storage and distribution facility at the airport. The judge will give his judgement in writing, likely in the next three weeks. The latest round of the legal battle came more than three years after Mr Brown won a ruling from London’s Court of Appeal quashing the council’s previous grant of planning permission. However, in February 2013, the council granted a fresh permission for a freight distribution centre and the raising and re-profiling of the runway. The permission was made subject to a “section 106 agreement” imposing an obligation on Stobart Air to keep the airport open and the runway maintained unless it could be shown that the airport is no longer economically viable. Summarising the case at the start of the hearing, the judge said it amounted to a claim that the council had no power to enter into the agreement, that it didn’t achieve what it was proposed to achieve, and that it was unlawful because it was done behind closed doors. http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/carlisle-airport-decision-likely-in-next-three-weeks-1.1118464

Date set for February 2014 for Hearing at the High Court into Stobart’s Carlisle airport plans

September 23, 2013 .Carlisle City Council’s decision to allow the development’s go-ahead is being taken to a judicial review – probably between 18th and 20th February 2014. Stobart Group wants to build a 394,000sq ft freight distribution centre and to resurface the runway for scheduled passenger flights to Southend and Dublin. Carlisle City Council granted planning permission in February, but their decision is being challenged by a local farmer who lives close to the airport, and has tenaciously persisted in his opposition for several years. He opposes the plan for the airport’s expansion because it appears the legal agreement between the council and Stobart Group is “unenforceable”; because planning officers gave “erroneous and seriously misleading” advice to the councillors who made the decision; because Carlisle City Council did not properly assess the criteria on “presumption in favour of development”; the council failed to comply with its obligations under the EU habitats directive – and several other failures in the Council process. Mr Brown persuaded the Court of Appeal to quash an earlier consent, granted in 2009, after he brought judicial review proceedings. Click here to view full story…

Carlisle airport resurfacing and freight centre still held up by High Court ruling

July 4, 2013 Stobart Group still plan a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre, and resurfacing of the runway for scheduled passenger flights to London and Dublin. But the airport development cannot start until the High Court rules on a legal challenge, brought by Irthington farmer Gordon Brown. He is seeking a judicial review of the Carlisle City Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the airport scheme, which he says does not comply with the council’s development plan and that planning officers gave councillors “erroneous and seriously misleading advice”. There are also questions on EU state aid rules and a planning condition. Work has begun on upgrading the sewers around Irthington, and this will remove another obstacle to the airport redevelopment plan – as this was one of the conditions in the planning approval, granted in February. The sewer upgrade, which will triple the capacity of the network, should be finished by October. The new sewer will mean treated effluent will no longer be discharged into a tributary of the River Irthing. Click here to view full story…

FRESH LEGAL MOVES START TO BLOCK CARLISLE AIRPORT PLANS

2 March 2013 Legal moves to stop the redevelopment of Carlisle Airport are underway. Irthington farmer Gordon Brown, who successfully overturned a previous planning consent in 2009, is mounting another challenge that could go all the way to the Court of Appeal. His solicitor, Dickinson Dees, has served a pre-action protocol letter on Carlisle City Council after the council granted planning permission last month. Stobart Group wants to build a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre and to resurface the runway for scheduled passenger flights to London Southend and Dublin. A pre-action protocol identifies the issues in dispute. It is the first step towards applying to the courts for a judicial review of a decision made by a local authority. The council has 14 days to respond. Mr Brown said he believed the council had “acted unlawfully”. He has said previously that the planning consent may breach European state-aid rules. Mr Brown warned councillors in January that, “at the very least”, they should check with the European Commission before granting permission. He also claimed that one of the council’s planning conditions was unenforceable. Click here to view full story …

August 4, 2012 Plans to redevelop Carlisle Airport have been cleared in principle, by Carlisle City council, with an 11 – 1 vote, for air freight flights and passenger flights, but with many conditions. There could still be a judicial review by Peter Eliott. The Planning officer recommended “on balance” that councillors approve the plans, even though allowing the freight distribution centre in open countryside was against policy. The airport currently loses money, and the council hopes it will become profitable and bring money into the local economy. However, the council’s aviation consultants doubted whether scheduled passenger flights and air freight would survive for long. The airport can only survive if it is cross-subsidised by the freight distribution centre, and this may be illegal under EU law. Stobart are trying to make out that Carlisle can be as well used as Southend airport has become, but they are not readily comparable. Click here to view full story…

Stobart Group gets go-ahead for Carlisle airport redevelopment scheme but with many conditions

August 4, 2012 Carlisle City Council have granted planning permission for the Stobart scheme to develop Carlisle airport. They plan to build a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre and to resurface the runway for passenger flights and air freight. However, permissionis only agreed in principle and is subject to a string of legal conditions being met. The council decision is subject to an Appropriate Assessment by Natural England and a Section 106 agreement including obligation on Stobart to keep the airport open and the runway maintained, various travel plan obligations, and the payment of £100,000 in order to enable the undertaking of a habitat enhancement scheme to benefit breeding waders. Objectors could yet seek a judicial review of the council’s decision. Click here to view full story…

Plans for Council decision on redevelopment of Carlisle airport delayed again – till August

July 9, 2012 Carlisle City councillors have deferred a decision on Stobart’s planning application for a 394,000sq ft freight distribution centre and to resurface the runway. They will hold further consultations before the plans come back before councillors, probably on August 3. Gordon Brown, the farmer whose application for judicial review led the Court of Appeal to quash a previous airport consent, argues that the latest scheme should also have been thrown out. The application was originally submitted over a year ago, and was due to be refused in July 2012, when Stobart asked for a delay so they could challenge arguments against the plans. Now Stobart chief executive Andrew Tinkler says he is frustrated by this delay, and threatens loss jobs etc if his plans are refused. Click here to view full story…

July 2, 2012 It is possible that Carlisle City Council will decide on the redevelopment plans for Carlisle airport this week, but more likely it will be delayed. It has been due last July, but Stobart asked for it to be delayed. The upgrades are mainly for freight, but the local council and the tourism bodies want air passenger, not only freight. However, 92% of Cumbria’s visitors are UK-based, though Cumbria Tourism etc want to attract more international tourists, and year to get visitors from Brazil, China, India and Russia – as well as more from America. And for these to fly up from London. One problem with the application is that Stobart have now halved the number of passengers it thinks it can get by 2025, from its initial guess of 100,000 per year, to 50,000. This lower number will reduce the alleged benefits to the local economy, and so is not likely to be approved. Click here to view full story…

1.6.2012 A decision on the future of Carlisle Airport has been delayed again. Stobart Group wants to build a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre and to resurface the runway ready for scheduled passenger flights and an airfreight service. Carlisle City councillors were due to consider the planning application this month, but it has been withdrawn from the development control committee’s agenda at Stobart’s request, as they want to submit more information. It is now up for review on 6th July. Planning officers were advising councillors to turn it down on the grounds that “the distribution centre appears to be primarily for road haulage rather than airport related”. Click here to view full story…

16th July 2011 Carlisle Council has put off a decision until after 19th August on whether to give Stobart Group permission to build a 394,000sq ft freight-distribution centre and resurface the runway. Councillors had been expected to turn down the application on 15th. Failure to get planning could significantly affect the valuation of Carlisle Airport, which Stobart bought 2 years ago. Aviation consultants working for the council advised that passenger flights would not be “commercially viable” and there was “very little potential” for air freight. Click here to view full story…

Latest Carlisle Airport plans could end up at public inquiry

11.3.2011 The latest proposals to redevelop Carlisle Airport could be called in for a public inquiry. Owner Stobart Group wants to resurface the runway and build an air-freight distribution centre, and they make all sorts of wild claims about jobs to be created. But Carlisle City Council is advertising Stobart’s application as a ‘departure’ from the local plan, so they will need to be referred to the Government Office NW, which may call an inquiry – as happened in 2008. Click here to view full story …..

Carlisle airport application hopes for 200,000 passengers by 2025 and 5 return flights per day

Date Added: 3rd January 2011 Owners of Carlisle airport, Stobart Group, have put in a planning application to resurface the runway and build a 394,000sq ft air-freight distribution centre. It claims this would create the equivalent of 156 full-time jobs and safeguard 73 existing jobs. There would be flights to Southend. The application warns that the airport is not viable without redevelopment. Stobart say that if they don’t get their application, they will move outside Cumbria. (News & Star) Click here to view full story…

Farmer wins appeal to stop Carlisle Airport revamp

19th May 2010 A Cumbrian farmer has won his legal fight to overturn planning approval for the £25 million redevelopment of Carlisle Airport. The Court of Appeal has quashed a decision by Carlisle City Council to allow Stobart Air to build a haulage depot and create a passenger and freight hub. The city council should have insisted on a full assessment of the environmental impact. Stobart was granted permission in December 2009 and is now looking at sites outside Cumbria. Click here to view full story…

The case of Mr Gordon Brown was heard at the High Court in London, on 21st April 2010.

Carlisle Airport land wrangle leads to 45 job cuts at Stobart Group

29th January 2010 A protracted dispute over grazing land at Carlisle Airport which has delayed the start of its £25 million redevelopment has apparently led to 45 workers being laid off. It is delayed because 4 farmers with grazing rights – including two whose leases cover land earmarked for a new warehouse and offices – are refusing to surrender the land, though offered “a six-figure sum” and alternative grazing land. They refuse to give up the over 200 acres. (Cumberland News) Click here to view full story…

Farmers’ legal challenges will delay Carlisle Airport revamp

19th December 2009 There are now 4 farmers with grazing rights on land earmarked for warehousing and offices who have refused to give up those rights, and one of them has been granted leave to apply for a judicial review of Carlisle City Council’s decision to give planning permission to the airport in 2008. The application will be heard in the Court of Appeal in the spring. Tinkler said he was frustrated by the farmers who had refused Stobart’s offer to surrender their grazing rights. Click here to view full story…

15th December 2009 Redevelopment of Carlisle Airport is threatened by a legal challenge from an Irthington farmer. Gordon Brown has been given leave to apply for a judicial review of Carlisle City Council’s decision in 2008 to grant planning consent for warehousing and offices. The High Court twice rejected his application, most recently in October. But that ruling has now been overturned by the Court of Appeal in London. Click here to view full story…

Campaigners refused leave to go for judicial review

27.10.2009 The Judge at a hearing at the High Court in London refused campaigners leave to have a judicial review of the Carlisle City Council decision, to allow airport expansion. Campaigners are now seeking leave to take the case to the court of appeal.

Farmer taking Carlisle Airport fight to appeal court

27th October 2009 A farmer hoping to scupper plans for a passenger airport on the edge of Carlisle is to take his fight to the Court of Appeal. Mr Brown objected to the city council’s 2008 decision to grant planning consent to Stobart Group for warehousing and offices, as there had been no adequate environmental impact assessment, but the case thrown out by a High Court judge. Now, Mr Brown intends to seek leave to take the case to the court of appeal. (News & Star) Click here to view full story…

Judge defers ruling on Carlisle man’s airport challenge

29th September 2009 A Carlisle man who is fighting plans for redevelopment of the airport took his challenge to the scheme to the High Court. Thomas Gordon Brown, of Irthington, objects to the granting of planning permission for a freight storage and distribution facility at the Crosby-on-Eden airfield. The site’s owner, Stobart Air Ltd, secured permission earlier this year, but opponents believe the Carlisle City Council decision was “unlawful” and should be overturned. Click here to view full story…

Farmer’s legal challenge to Carlisle airport heard today

28th September 2009 A legal challenge to the redevelopment of Carlisle Airport is due to be heard in the High Court. Gordon Brown, who farms at Lane End opposite the Crosby-on-Eden airfield, is seeking a judicial review of Carlisle City Council’s decision to grant planning permission. A judge sitting in Newcastle threw out his original review application in July. But Mr Brown has pursued the case, th is time at the Royal Courts of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division. (News & Star) Click here to view full story…

Planning permission granted for Carlisle Airport scheme

1.04.09

The £25m plans to redevelop Carlisle Airport have cleared another hurdle after planning consent has been officially released by Carlisle City Council. This means the Stobart Group, the company behind the scheme, can now exercise its option to buy the airfield and start the development work. Due diligence is currently being carried out before the deal is signed. Release of planning permission was delayed until the council received a legally-binding document from Stobart promising to improve the runway and passenger terminal at the site. That was required in order to avoid the project becoming a purely commercial move to relocate the Eddie Stobart haulage company at the site, as some local campaigners had suggested would happen. Under the redevelopment plan, passengers could soon board a plane at Carlisle and be in the centre of London in under one-and-a-half hours. Flights would operate between Carlisle and Southend Airport, which Stobart also owns. A railway station will be built soon at Southend, which will see trains running on a high-speed link to the site of the Olympics and London’s Liverpool Street station. UK Airport News

Councillors could face probe over Carlisle Airport plan

3.4.2009 Wetheral councillor Barry Earp and Stanwix Rural representative Marilyn Bowman have been referred to the Standards Board for England after a complaint by Irthington resident, and airport objector, Peter Elliott. He alleges the pair disclosed confidential information, improperly used the council’s email system and “possibly acted contrary to the Money Laundering Regulations Act 2007”, during the Stobart Group’s application to develop the airfield and build a transport distribution centre there. (Whitehaven News) Click here to view full story …

Deal for Carlisle Airport could be sealed within days

17th February 2009 The Stobart Group is ready to complete the deal to buy Carlisle Airport and begin development in the next few days. It currently owns an option to buy the airfield which it will exercise as soon as planning consent is officially released. Stobart are finalising a legally binding agreement demanded by Carlisle City Council that the firm will improve the runway and passenger terminal. The document should be submitted this week. (News & Star) Click here to view full story…

Stobart views straitened times as opportunity

3rd January 2009 Stobart Group is one of the few businesses that views the current economic uncertainty as an opportunity rather than a threat to its future. Much of its business is in transporting food and “people still need to eat”. In December, Stobart bought Southend. Tinkler sees the area as strategically important, with the 2012 Olympics coming up. Stbart has an option, expiring this month, to buy Carlisle airport for about £10m – an announcement is expected shortly. (FT) Click here to view full story…

Carlisle airport plan “hailed as part of area’s economic future”

2nd January 2009 An odd local story, suggesting development of Carlisle airport by the Stobart group will “safeguard 565 jobs and create 100 more” and this “has been recognised as a major building block in Cumbria’s economic future.” It also somehow manages to link growth of the airport with “aims to transform West Cumbria into a major low-carbon energy production hub for the UK.” (Times and Star) Click here to view full story…

Airport shrugs off Carlisle revival plan

24th December 2008 Blackpool Airport says plans to increase passenger numbers will not be affected by proposals to develop Carlisle Airport. Carlisle City Council’s planning committee has approved a £19m scheme by Stobart, which includes encouraging more passengers. A spokeswoman for Blackpool Airport said the growth at Carlisle would not have an negative impact on the Squires Gate hub. (Gazette) Click here to view full story…

Carlisle airport plan gets go-ahead

20th December 2008Carlisle City Council yesterday gave planning permission to allow Eddie Stobart and Stobart Rail to move their operations at Kingstown to the airfield at Crosby-on-Eden. As a condition, Andrew Tinkler will sign a binding agreement to upgrade the runway and passenger terminal, so scheduled passenger flights could start next year. Objectors have vowed to fight on and may apply for a judicial review. Tinkler faces negotiations with a tenant farmer. (News & Star). Click here to view full story…

Carlisle Airport expansion plan backed by Cumbria council

27th November 2008 Businessman Andrew Tinkler’s plans for Carlisle Airport have received a boost from Cumbria County Council. Carlisle City Council will decide next month if the £20m scheme for an Eddie Stobart HQ and warehousing should get planning consent. But the county council has to be consulted first – its development control committee voted 11-0 in favour. However, they say that Stobart Air, should sign a binding agreement to upgrade the runway and terminal. (News & Star) Click here to view full story…

Carlisle Airport plan would create ‘industrial estate’ in the country

30.10.08 (UK Airport News) Opponents of a £25 million plan to redevelop Carlisle Airport say the proposals could create an ‘industrial estate’ in open countryside, the Cumberland News reports.

Airport owner Andrew Tinkler last week tabled a new planning application for the Crosby-on-Eden airfield. It shows a 371,000sq ft warehouse for road haulier Eddie Stobart, a four-storey office block shared by Eddie Stobart and Stobart Rail, a chilled dock, gatehouse, canteen and parking for 339 cars and 143 lorries.

The scheme is smaller than earlier plans, which Mr Tinkler dropped after they were called in for a public inquiry. But the Carlisle Airport Residents’ Forum said: ‘If this goes ahead, it will set a precedent and we will end up with an industrial estate.’

‘Last time the application for a corporate HQ was tied in with the extension of the airport and the benefits that would bring. This time it is more clear cut. All this application is for, is for the placement of a corporate HQ and haulage depot. It has no relationship to the airport and could be built on a site anywhere in Carlisle with easier access to the motorway. Although the shed would be smaller, it would still be two-thirds the size of the Lanes shopping centre.’

15th October 2008Fresh proposals to redevelop Carlisle Airport have been tabled with Carlisle City Council. Andrew Tinkler shelved an earlier £35m scheme for a new runway, hangars, terminal, offices and warehousing after it was called in for a public inquiry. His latest proposals are less ambitious. The main building will be 30% smaller and there are no plans to replace the runway, which will be improved. There should be no need to fell trees. (News & Star)Click here to view full story…